S02.E02: Ride or Die

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

In Summer 1999, Isabella grows closer to Luke while struggling to connect with Megan. In Winter 1999, Isabella searches for justice following the disastrous Christmas party.

Airs June 5th.

[KaveDweller]

I was surprised by the twist of it really being Megan on the tape and Isabella taking the fall to protect her. But it seems like Isabella does have some resentment towards Megan being close with Luke. 

But I am kind of puzzled about how a school could threaten to expel a girl for being taped against her will while having consensual sex off campus. Isn't she a victim? And can a school even make rules about sex in someone's own home? This is 1999, not the 50s.

[gesundheit]

17 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

But I am kind of puzzled about how a school could threaten to expel a girl for being taped against her will while having consensual sex off campus. Isn't she a victim? And can a school even make rules about sex in someone's own home? This is 1999, not the 50s.

Yes, this was just too implausible for me. Why would Megan lose her coding scholarship for having sex? They should've made it some silly private grant that had a morality clause or... something. I don't know. Because this just made no sense. 

I see they're going the safe route with the costume design again, where they're really blending 2020s style with a few 1999/2000 flourishes.

 

Also pretty funny that the foreign exchange student is American.

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, gesundheit said:

Yes, this was just too implausible for me. Why would Megan lose her coding scholarship for having sex? They should've made it some silly private grant that had a morality clause or... something. I don't know. Because this just made no sense. 

I see they're going the safe route with the costume design again, where they're really blending 2020s style with a few 1999/2000 flourishes.

 

Also pretty funny that the foreign exchange student is American.

And the one police officer thinking benzos were pain killers? Some stupid writing. 

[Victoria Valeska]

Closed captioning misidentified "Bitch" as Alanis instead of Meredith Brooks. For shame!

 

I felt some type of way about Megan repurposing Isabella's pep talk and reassurances to chat with her boyfriend. Rude at best, and a lil bit psycho at worst.

[jsm1125]

I kept thinking the blonde friend (whose name I don’t know and who referenced that Megan doesn’t drink) is played by the same actress who played Tenile in season 1, but I don’t think that’s true?

I’m curious how Luke’s mom (can’t remember her name or his dad’s name) died. 

Does anyone else find that the characters this season speak much more rapidly (well, mostly Megan and a little bit Parker) than the characters in season 1?

Edited June 7, 2023 by jsm1125

[TattleTeeny]

Help! If it was Megan on the tape, why does everyone think it was Isabella? 

[peachmangosteen]

2 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Help! If it was Megan on the tape, why does everyone think it was Isabella? 

Right! That made no sense. They all just assumed it was Isabella because why? Not to mention the fact that apparently Isabella and Luke did date in summer of 99 so who's to say that video wasn't recorded around that time, in which case it wasn't cheating. People made so many strange assumptions with that lol.

This was not great imo. Season 1 was such an amazing surprise with how great it was so I probably have too high of expectations. This season feels more generic.

[TattleTeeny]

That's what I thought too -- that they assumed it because they knew Isabella and Luke had been together. But it's an odd assumption, as the tape was shown in December and Luke and Megan were together; wouldn't the immediate assumption be that it was Megan? And why did Megan assume it was Isabella and that it was recent (as opposed to before she [Megan] was officially with Luke)? Am I being a giant dope? 

Edited June 7, 2023 by TattleTeeny

[AstridM]

34 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Help! If it was Megan on the tape, why does everyone think it was Isabella? 

I think because the pink sweater Isabella was wearing at the Christmas party was the same one that people saw on the tape? And the shadows on the legs made them look darker. 

7 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

That's what I thought too -- that they assumed it because they knew Isabella and Luke had been together. But it's an odd assumption, as the tape was shown in December and Luke and Megan were together; wouldn't the immediate assumption be that it was Megan? And why did Megan assume it was Isabella and that it was recent (as opposed to before she [Megan] was officially with Luke)? Am I being a giant dope? 

Megan knew it wasn’t Isabella. 

[TattleTeeny]

Holy hell, really? Good eye! 

BUT YES! I admittedly did not catch it myself and I already deleted it from the DVR, but there was a scene that showed Megan borrowing clothing from Isabella!

[Cranberry]

When the video started playing at the party, someone said out loud, "Is that Isabella's sweater?" and someone else said, "That's totally Isabella!" And yeah, the sweater in the video was the exact one she was wearing at the party. We know that Megan liked to raid her closet, but the random partygoers wouldn't.

Isabella is one hundred per cent not some hip world traveller, right? She made a comment in her letter to Lisa that it was fun to mess with the people who thought she was "an exotic creature from another planet." I wonder where the last three schools she left abruptly actually were.

[TattleTeeny]

OK, then, I officially give up; I shall simply accept that a party's worth of people would be that in tune to whom a sweater belongs, haha! 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by TattleTeeny

[marny]

I’m old enough to have gone to high school and college in the 90s and I can’t imagine a student being suspended or at risk of expulsion for having consensual sex (unless it happened at school or something). Or a college caring at all about a student having sex. This makes no sense. 

[Black Knight]

I watched both episodes last night. It took me a little bit to get into the new story, but I'm liking it and I think they've done a good job of differentiating it sufficiently from S1. Having the two core girls interact regularly in all three timelines makes a big difference.

Isabella was pretty upset about that lost earring from "Lisa," just saying. It makes me think Lisa was a girlfriend and not just a girlfriend.

The plot point about Megan not getting to go to U of W if it comes out that she was the one having sex on camera is just really silly. Even if I could fanwank something about morality rules at the local high school and that they'd fail her before expelling her, which would tank her GPA and thus cause her to lose her scholarship...the mom said that she talked the school out of expelling Isabella. If the local small town high school will allow the new black girl to stay on and graduate, I have a hard time understanding how the mom wouldn't have been able to convince them to do the same for the hometown white girl. Plus the mom is in good with Luke's dad who owns most of the town and so has plenty of pull - Luke wasn't facing any potential expulsion that we heard about.

Whatever, I hope they just don't bring up the silly expulsion thing again and just focus on the question of who released the tape and why.

Neither girl seems very broken up about Luke in the most recent timeline. Okay, Isabella didn't know him for long, but he was supposed to be Megan's longtime best friend who then became the guy she was in love with. Granted they obviously knew he was dead and have had some time to process that, but my early guess is that Luke wasn't as nice of a guy as he seems.

[TattleTeeny]

Also, maybe lightning bolts are on my mind lately because of Vanderpump Rules, but I thought I noticed that Isabella had a pendant and Luke's brother's GF had earrings. I wonder if that is something? (But don't go by me -- I can't even figure out a sweater-based sex scandal!)

[Victoria Valeska]

7 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

I thought I noticed that Isabella had a pendant and Luke's brother's GF had earrings. I wonder if that is something?

Isabella did stress the importance of details...

[RachelKM]

I'm not sure how I feel about this story so far.  Like many of you, I found the assumptions as to the subject of the film baffling. I suppose it being a sweater in frame would indicate that it was not summer (when Isabella and Luke apparently dated). But recognizing a sweater as only belonging to a specific person? So weird. Was it famously one of a kind? Also, girls barrowing close from one another is a constant in teen friendship.  To me, the weirdest part, still, was Isabella's apologies while running after Megan. Why?  That was the thing that seemed to confirm  it was Isabella on the video. Was she already creating a cover story for Megan?  That's super on the spot thinking.

The "weirdest love triangle ever" or whatever the comment was made me think we're gonna get some girl crush dynamics between Isabella and Megan. Adding in Isabella's reaction to the Megan/Luke convo reinforced that thought.  I'm cool with it as long as they don't make Isabella some gross trope Bi/Queer predator. She definitely had an icy vibe with the cop (even if she was 100% correct). I don['t need to see her be some junior SWF/Basic Instinct psycho.

I'd prefer Isabella just be a somewhat lonely teen girl who feels threatened by the closeness of her bestfriend and said friend's own relationship boyfriend who has also been her best friend. Or if she does have a crush, please don't let jealousy be the catalyst. 

 

13 minutes ago, marny said:

I’m old enough to have gone to high school and college in the 90s and I can’t imagine a student being suspended or at risk of expulsion for having consensual sex (unless it happened at school or something). Or a college caring at all about a student having sex. This makes no sense. 

Yeah, same. The issue for the school would be the filming of a minor(s), not a 17 year old having sex.  And I cannot imagine a circumstance wherein a college scholarship for coding would give a rat's ass about the recipient's sex life. The tech industry is quite famously libertarian, sometimes to a fault. 

Final thought, who has the money to buy tens of dildos and a blowup doll for pranking/harassing someone? Not for nothing, but sex toys are not cheap. 

[tennisgurl]

I didn't see it coming that it was actually Megan on the tape and not Isabella, mainly because its really weird. I can get why people at the party might have thought it was Isabella, it was dark, hard to see the girls face, and she was wearing Isabella's sweater, but the two girls don't look alike at all, anyone who saw more than a second of the tape would be able to tell. I also found the whole idea that a girl could be expelled for being on a sex tape to be utterly bizarre. Why would it be a big deal that Megan was caught having consensual sex with her same age boyfriend? The person who videotaped them and played it for other people without their consent would be the person in trouble, not them. I really just cant imagine any scholarship committee, especially a tech scholarship, giving a shit about the sex life of their winners. If Isabella, Luke, and Megan all knew that it was Megan and Luke, why was Isabella apologizing? Is it hinting that she recorded them? 

Did Isabella pick up her standard American accent from her parents? Who she apparently hardly sees? She doesn't at all sound like someone who has spent their whole life traveling the world, it makes me wonder if her whole globe trotter story is totally made up. 

Other than the nonsense surrounding the video, I continue to be intrigued by the mystery. And I'm obsessed with the late 90s/early 00s soundtrack.

Edited June 7, 2023 by tennisgurl

[marny]

Came back to say that I definitely got vibes of Megan being romantically/sexually interested in Isabella. The way they filmed the pool party was very “male gazey” at Isabella in her swimsuit, but then it would regularly show that it was Megan doing the gazing. And her jealousy about Luke felt more like jealousy about Isabella to me, not Luke. 
 

I did buy the scene with the cop attempting to slut-shame Isabella instead of focusing on the person who filmed a sex tape of a minor as realistic. And you know what 17 year old knows she needs a lawyer? One who has watched tv. 

Edited June 7, 2023 by marny

[AstridM]

50 minutes ago, marny said:

I’m old enough to have gone to high school and college in the 90s and I can’t imagine a student being suspended or at risk of expulsion for having consensual sex (unless it happened at school or something). Or a college caring at all about a student having sex. This makes no sense. 

That wouldn’t even have happened in the 80s. Makes no sense, I agree. 

Edited June 7, 2023 by AstridM

[AstridM]

29 minutes ago, marny said:

did buy the scene with the cop attempting to slut-shame Isabella instead of focusing on the person who filmed a sex tape of a minor as realistic.

Whomever filmed and shared it is literally guilty of making and sharing child pornography. I’m not sure I buy any cop not caring about that.

[Cranberry]

42 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

But recognizing a sweater as only belonging to a specific person? So weird.

I can forgive that because it's the exact sweater she was wearing at the party when the sex tape aired, and it's a bright/recognizable color.

I agree that it makes absolutely no sense that anyone would be expelled or have a scholarship revoked over this whole thing, though.

I definitely picked up on the crush/male gaze-y aspects of Megan and Isabella's friendship, but then the writers keep very deliberately having the girls call each other best friends and "like a sister to me" or whatever, which is usually what shows do to discourage shipping (looking at you, Supergirl), so I'm confused. Maybe they're trying to make it seem like a bigger reveal than it should be.

[marny]

3 minutes ago, AstridM said:

Whomever filmed and shared it is literally guilty of making and sharing child pornography. I’m not sure I buy any cop not caring about that.

Oh, I absolutely buy it. There are plenty of cops who would act like the girl got what she deserved for being a “slut”. The more recent wave of prosecutions of older teens for having naked photos of each other on their phones truly was not something that law enforcement really thought about or bothered with pre-smart phone. If the people on the tape had been young children, then you’d see police caring. But I can certainly see this being brushed aside in the late 90s. People are much more cognizant of this stuff now. 

[RachelKM]

12 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I can forgive that because it's the exact sweater she was wearing at the party when the sex tape aired, and it's a bright/recognizable color.

I can see that.  It just seemed like a really big jump without seeing her face. If nothing else, barrowing clothes is way more likely than filming yourself cheating with your best friend's boyfriend. But still, the part that baffles me most is Isabella so quickly going into protection mode, i.e. apologizing to confirm guilt. Unless there was a reason to apologize other than being the subject of the video. 

[AstridM]

1 minute ago, RachelKM said:

I can see that.  It just seemed like a really big jump without seeing her face. If nothing else, barrowing clothes is way more likely than filming yourself cheating with your best friend's boyfriend. But still, the part that baffles me most is Isabella so quickly going into protection mode, i.e. apologizing to confirm guilt. Unless there was a reason to apologize other than being the subject of the video. 

I don’t think they think Isabella is the one who recorded the video .

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Granted they obviously knew he was dead and have had some time to process that, but my early guess is that Luke wasn't as nice of a guy as he seems.

I figured that even before watching the show lol. But I also think that actor kind of gives off a smarmy vibe so I don't know if I'm just bias.

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

If Isabella, Luke, and Megan all knew that it was Megan and Luke, why was Isabella apologizing? Is it hinting that she recorded them? 

Yea, I think Isabella might have more to do with the tape.

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Did Isabella pick up her standard American accent from her parents? Who she apparently hardly sees? She doesn't at all sound like someone who has spent their whole life traveling the world, it makes me wonder if her whole globe trotter story is totally made up. 

Oh yea, Isabella is for sure lying about her background. And there's definitely something more to her best friend Lisa than she's letting on.

1 hour ago, Cranberry said:

I definitely picked up on the crush/male gaze-y aspects of Megan and Isabella's friendship, but then the writers keep very deliberately having the girls call each other best friends and "like a sister to me" or whatever, which is usually what shows do to discourage shipping (looking at you, Supergirl), so I'm confused. 

They did also have Megan say Luke was like her brother.

[KaveDweller]

3 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Plus the mom is in good with Luke's dad who owns most of the town and so has plenty of pull - Luke wasn't facing any potential expulsion that we heard about.

Well, I can buy that the guy in a sex tape would experience less blow back than the woman. But an expulsion for either would be ridiculous.

I totally missed the sweater. I thought the misunderstanding was that the shadow in the video made Megan's legs look really dark and that everyone was being kind of racist and assuming it was the only black girl at the party.

[Black Knight]

7 hours ago, RachelKM said:

To me, the weirdest part, still, was Isabella's apologies while running after Megan. Why?  That was the thing that seemed to confirm  it was Isabella on the video.

Isabella does not apologize in that scene. I was paying attention the first time I watched it, because I was already suspicious of the fact that we hadn't actually seen the girl's face in the video, and I just rewatched to confirm. Isabella just tells Megan to wait and to listen to her. And Megan merely tells Isabella to let go of her, and then leaves.

So I wasn't surprised when it was revealed in this episode that Isabella wasn't the girl in the video. I was somewhat surprised that it was Megan. Obviously I wasn't expecting the silliness that it would ruin her college prospects! I figured it was one of the other girls, that Isabella was just trying to tell Megan it wasn't her, and that the mystery would be which other girl Luke was having sex with.

I do believe nobody thinking about the criminality of videotaping and showing the sexual intercourse of nearly-18-year-old minors though. This was 1999. And actually, Luke, Megan and Isabella might not even be minors. I was 18 my entire senior year of high school. A lot of my classmates turned 18 during senior year. Were any of them ever specified as being 17?

[RachelKM]

12 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I do believe nobody thinking about the criminality of videotaping and showing the sexual intercourse of nearly-18-year-old minors though. This was 1999. And actually, Luke, Megan and Isabella might not even be minors. I was 18 my entire senior year of high school. A lot of my classmates turned 18 during senior year. Were any of them ever specified as being 17?

I don't know about Luke and Megan, but Isabella specifically said she was a minor. It wasn't clear whether she was still a minor in the 2000 time-line (though having a guardian with her for questioning indicates she likely was). But she was apparently a minor as of the taping.... unless the drivers license Megan looked at was real and Isabella is lying about everything.  But her passport at the beginning seemed to fit with her claims regarding her background.  And she did call her mom.

 

Good catch, though, on the apology.  I didn't rewatch. But even "Wait, listen " is weird if she knew it couldn't be her. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by RachelKM

[Anela]

I missed the sweater, too. I wasn’t watching when they showed the video, I only heard it. I thought Megan ran off, because she was embarrassed. She recognized herself. And that maybe Isabelle thought that she thought something had happened between her and the boyfriend, until I saw her talking about taking the fall for her.

We see the other girl being rude to her at first, and then they’re friends when they break into the house, and burn the tapes. So, the older brother was the one making tapes?

the police talked about drowning, and drugs, but didn’t mention anything involving blood? Megan looked like she was scrubbing up blood.

who did those pills belong to?  we’re they the pills used to drug him?

I might put it in again, since I can’t settle into anything. 

the parents were dating each other. I missed who the dad said he cheated on. Her, or his dead wife? 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Anela

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, Anela said:

So, the older brother was the one making tapes?

He admitted to making tapes but told Luke he didn't make the one of him and Megan.

Quote

the police talked about drowning, and drugs, but didn’t mention anything involving blood? Megan looked like she was scrubbing up blood.

Yea, that is probably someone else's blood. 

Quote

who did those pills belong to?  we’re they the pills used to drug him?

I figured they were probably Megan's mom's. 

Quote

the parents were dating each other. I missed who the dad said he cheated on. Her, or his dead wife? 

I didn't even notice him telling someone he cheated on someone lol.

[tennisgurl]

16 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

They did also have Megan say Luke was like her brother.

It would be wild if Megan ended up being attracted to every who she said she saw as a sibling. Probably a lot to unpack there...

[Bobcatkitten]

I like it so far but there are definitely some leaps/weak points. 

Clearly everyone thinks the brother took the video but Luke didn't even point out that if he had taken it he would know it was not Isabella. Big gap there. 

And I'm having trouble seeing Luke being hot enough to be with both these girls. He seems very pipsqueaky to me. 

[DoubleUTeeEff]

On 6/7/2023 at 2:49 PM, TattleTeeny said:

(But don't go by me -- I can't even figure out a sweater-based sex scandal!)

I call dibs on Sweater-Based Sex Scandal for my band name.

 

10 hours ago, Anela said:

the police talked about drowning, and drugs, but didn’t mention anything involving blood? Megan looked like she was scrubbing up blood.

They did mention that he was grazed by a bullet, so there could be blood from that. The detectives also seemed to think that he had been drugged-not that he took the drugs on his own. I don't know how they made that leap but if true, that was quite a night for Luke. Poisoned, shot and drowned.

I like how the glass door at Luke's house shattered so easily. Total TV trope.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Bobcatkitten said:

I like it so far but there are definitely some leaps/weak points. 

Clearly everyone thinks the brother took the video but Luke didn't even point out that if he had taken it he would know it was not Isabella. Big gap there.

They did mention that.  Luke said his brother stopped watching as soon as he saw it was Luke on the tape.  He didn't want to watch his brother have sex. 

That makes me think the camera was set up to capture a known hook-up spot.  As to why the video started mid-coitus instead of watching them come in, sit down and start making out....?  That I don't know.

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

That makes me think the camera was set up to capture a known hook-up spot.  As to why the video started mid-coitus instead of watching them come in, sit down and start making out....?  That I don't know.

I'd assume whoever put the video in set it up to start there.

[Black Knight]

That was my assumption too. The interesting thing is not starting it at, or very near, the point where Megan's face is visible. Did whoever planted the tape expect that it would be stopped before that point? If so, that has some interesting ramifications for motive.

[Bobcatkitten]

Yeah, the person taking the video not knowing who is in it is a bridge too far for me. Makes no sense. 

[Cranberry]

Why do you think the person who took the video doesn't know it was Megan? They almost certainly do; they're just not saying so because that would make it obvious they took the video. (I don't think it was the brother.)

[DigitalCount]

Random predictions:

1. Lisa is in fact a former bestie/possibly something more of Isabella's, but she's no longer with us, possibly due to a falling out with Isabella. Either that, or Lisa is actually the girl we know as Isabella (or the persona she gives her diary), and she's a total fraud. (Pat Highsmith on the fake ID leans me this way)

2. Isabella and Luke did hook up at some point during the Megan and Luke relationship, just not the one caught on tape.

3. Megan is actually jealous about Isabella's affections rather than Luke's at least at the beginning.

4. Parker is the person who made the film using her (ex) boyfriend's equipment.

[Cranberry]

Wait, I saw that ID but I didn't clock that it was Pat Highsmith -- as in the author Patricia Highsmith? She wrote the Ripley books about con artist/serial killer Tom Ripley. She was also a lesbian (she wrote The Price of Salt, which was adapted into the movie Carol). Could be some hints there.

(I'm assuming it's a fake ID.)

[Mirabelle]

On 6/8/2023 at 8:54 AM, peachmangosteen said:

 

I didn't even notice him telling someone he cheated on someone lol.

Luke's dad was referring to smoking. He quit but broke it twice - once on the anniversary of his wife's death and now with the news Luke was dead.

[CarpeFelis]

So we have 3 mysteries: who killed Luke; who shot the video; and how the hell Megan and Isabella became “ride or die” friends given their rocky start. That last one is what’s really mystifying to me.

[Miss Bones]

On 6/8/2023 at 1:50 PM, Bobcatkitten said:

And I'm having trouble seeing Luke being hot enough to be with both these girls. He seems very pipsqueaky to me. 

Totally agree!  Twerpy comes to mind, but I like "pipsqueaky" also! 😄

[mansonlamps]

On 6/8/2023 at 12:50 PM, Bobcatkitten said:

And I'm having trouble seeing Luke being hot enough to be with both these girls. He seems very pipsqueaky to me. 

He's from the wealthiest family in a small town. 

On 6/7/2023 at 9:47 PM, Black Knight said:

I do believe nobody thinking about the criminality of videotaping and showing the sexual intercourse of nearly-18-year-old minors though. This was 1999. And actually, Luke, Megan and Isabella might not even be minors. I was 18 my entire senior year of high school. A lot of my classmates turned 18 during senior year. Were any of them ever specified as being 17?

Agree, no way would Isabella have come up with that in 1999. Teens having sex with similar age teens wasn't celebrated, but it certainly wasn't widely thought of as child porn then either. Not even sure if it would have been considered illegal back then to film it?

On 6/7/2023 at 5:05 PM, KaveDweller said:

NM.

Agree with everyone else that the whole expulsion from high school and losing a scholarship for having sex is by no stretch of the imagination a thing. Our prom queen in 1979 had two babies and somehow never got expelled. 

[AstridM]

51 minutes ago, mansonlamps said:

He's from the wealthiest family in a small town. 

Agree, no way would Isabella have come up with that in 1999. Teens having sex with similar age teens wasn't celebrated, but it certainly wasn't widely thought of as child porn then either. Not even sure if it would have been considered illegal back then to film it?

Agree with everyone else that the whole expulsion from high school and losing a scholarship for having sex is by no stretch of the imagination a thing. Our prom queen in 1979 had two babies and somehow never got expelled. 

Yes, it was absolutely illegal back then 🤦‍♀️. And not all high school girls give a shit about a small town high school kid’s rich daddy. I doubt they slept with him because of that. Both girls planned to get the fuck out of there. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by AstridM

[LuvMyShows]

 

On 6/7/2023 at 2:46 PM, Black Knight said:

Having the two core girls interact regularly in all three timelines makes a big difference.

I find that they are not spending enough time with action from each time period...there's too much cutting back and forth.

On 6/7/2023 at 2:46 PM, Black Knight said:

Isabella was pretty upset about that lost earring from "Lisa," just saying. It makes me think Lisa was a girlfriend and not just a girlfriend.

The fact that the earring was right there where they were, made me think that she had intentionally loosened it just then so that he could find it, and create a situation with high likelihood that he would kiss her.

On 6/7/2023 at 10:47 PM, Black Knight said:

Isabella does not apologize in that scene. I was paying attention the first time I watched it, because I was already suspicious of the fact that we hadn't actually seen the girl's face in the video, and I just rewatched to confirm. Isabella just tells Megan to wait and to listen to her. And Megan merely tells Isabella to let go of her, and then leaves.

But Isabella did apologize before Megan found out it wasn't her.  It occurred when the two of them were watching the video and Megan said she needs to see the whole thing.  Isabella apologizes while they're watching it and Megan says, "I know. You've said that a million times."  And after that, she sees the part where it's revealed that it's actually Megan on the video. So it still doesn't make sense that Isabella would apologize, repeatedly, for something she didn't do...unless the apology is for something that hasn't been revealed yet, or unless Isabella actually did have sex with Luke while Luke was with Megan, and assumed that the tape had captured that.

[Black Knight]

14 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

But Isabella did apologize before Megan found out it wasn't her.  It occurred when the two of them were watching the video and Megan said she needs to see the whole thing.  Isabella apologizes while they're watching it and Megan says, "I know. You've said that a million times."  And after that, she sees the part where it's revealed that it's actually Megan on the video.

Megan always knew it was herself on the video. She's not surprised when she sees her face. What she was looking for was if her face was clearly shown, because of the stupid plot point about losing her scholarship if people know it's her. She doesn't actually watch the whole thing; she stops as soon as she sees her face, because that's what she needed to know.

Isabella does say "I'm sorry" in that scene, but not as an apology. It's meant as an expression of sympathy, just like we all say to people when something awful has happened to them that we had no role in. Of course initially the writers wanted us to think she meant it as an apology so that hopefully we would be surprised in a few seconds to learn it wasn't Isabella in the video.

[LuvMyShows]

 

11 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Megan always knew it was herself on the video. She's not surprised when she sees her face. What she was looking for was if her face was clearly shown, because of the stupid plot point about losing her scholarship if people know it's her. She doesn't actually watch the whole thing; she stops as soon as she sees her face, because that's what she needed to know.

Isabella does say "I'm sorry" in that scene, but not as an apology. It's meant as an expression of sympathy, just like we all say to people when something awful has happened to them that we had no role in. Of course initially the writers wanted us to think she meant it as an apology so that hopefully we would be surprised in a few seconds to learn it wasn't Isabella in the video.

I'm still not so sure.  Megan said that Isabella had apologized millions of times; which seems like more than what someone would do as just an expression of sympathy.  If Megan knew it was herself on the tape, it would seem strange to watch it in front of Isabella, because that changes the power dynamics, which were seeming to be in Megan's favor.